South African, Mauritius fuel Ethiopian's pan-African dreams

Interesting reports coming out of Africa. According to this piece, Ethiopian Airlines is talking with the recently bankrupted South African Airways, as well as with another airline in trouble, Air Mauritius, in order to bring them under its umbrella.

Ethiopian’s quest to become a pan-African carrier is not new, though. This aim has been pursued through a strategy of acquisitions and investments across the continent (not unlike what Etihad did a few years ago, with far from satisfactory results).

Ethiopian has been partnering with local investors and governments in order to establish a string of subsidiaries all over Africa. In 2018 it invested $30M to relaunch the national airline of Zambia, it also helped set up a new airline in Chad and a subsidiary in Mozambique. Prior to that, in 2016 it built a significant minority stake in Togo-based ASKY and in 2013 invested in Malawi Airlines. It also has a close partnership with CEIBA of Equatorial Guinea.

All of those airlines, though, are of a very modest size and usually provide service to very small local and regional markets. South African Airways and Air Mauritius are on an entirely different league. In fact, these two carriers were, together with also troubled Kenya Airways, pretty much the only other two large airlines south of the Sahara.

Building a truly pan-African airline is a tall order, though. Just look at struggling FastJet, once labelled as “the Easyjet of Africa”, as a cautionary tale.

Political fragmentation, red tape and foreign ownership rules mean that the idea of one carrier providing service throughout the whole of Africa remains an elusive dream.